Reform of counselling rules ‘key to education equality’

THE education gap between rich and poor could be narrowed if the assessment of schools’ needs for guidance counsellors was overhauled, an expert has said.

A guidance teacher at a secondary school with between 250 and 500 students must spend 11 hours teaching in the classroom or two hours more if the roll is smaller.

President of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors Brian Mooney compared the situation to telling a hospital doctor they can only see patients half the week and spend the rest washing the floor.